The Walking Dead Recap: Michonne

[This article contains spoilers for The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live episode 1.] Ever since a Civic Republic Military helicopter airlifted her husband away from an exploded bridge during season 9 of The Walking Dead, Michonne has been on a mission: find Rick Grimes and bring him home to their children. It wasn't until the final moments of last Sunday's series premiere of The Ones Who Live — the new Walking Dead spinoff series focused on long-lost couple Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and Michonne (Danai Gurira) — that she finally found him. And then the episode cut to black as Richonne reunited for the first time in eight years.

The Ones Who Live episode 2, "Gone," recounts what happened to Michonne after The Walking Dead and her journey to find Rick. If you didn't watch Gurira's final episodes, or if you need a brief refresher about what happened to Michonne on The Walking Dead, we have you covered with our full Rick & Michonne timeline recap. 

Below, we break down everything you need to know about Michonne.

Why did Michonne leave The Walking Dead?

After eight seasons as the katana-wielding warrior, Gurira departed The Walking Dead in the season 10 episode "What We Become." Michonne was away on a mission to Bloodsworth Island, Maryland, in search of weapons and munitions to aid the survivors in the Whisperer war when she found a boat carrying Rick's belongings: his cowboy boots and a cell phone. (In The Walking Dead season 11 episode "Rest in Peace," we saw Rick stash his bag on that same boat during his third failed escape attempt from the Civic Republic's army.)

Michonne also found a logbook documenting the boat's travels from Tampa Bay, Florida, to Hopewell, Virginia, and its final logged location before washing ashore: Bridgers Shipyard in New Jersey. Michonne reached her daughter Judith Grimes over walkie talkie to tell her that she found items belonging to "the Brave Man." Michonne couldn't be sure he was alive, but this meant Rick didn't die at the bridge.

"If you think he's alive, then you have to go find him," Judith responded. "What if he needs you more? What if he's trying to come home, too, but no one will help?" Michonne then headed north in search of Rick.

What is Michonne's new group on The Walking Dead?

Michonne was somewhere between Virginia and New Jersey when she came across two stragglers, Aiden (Breeda Wool) and Bailey (Andrew Bachelor), trailing behind a massive caravan of hundreds of survivors traveling with horses and carriages. "They won't wait for us," Aiden said, so Michonne chose to help the two strangers catch up to their group. (Why this nomadic group stops for no one is explained on The Ones Who Live.)

Did Rick and Michonne have a kid on The Walking Dead?

19 months after ending their war with Negan and the Saviors, Rick and Michonne were building the "new world" envisioned by the late Carl Grimes. While Michonne worked on a charter that would bound the survivors by law, Rick oversaw construction on a bridge that would literally and symbolically link the united communities. 

In the season 9 episode "Warning Signs," Rick suggested "another way to build for the future": conceiving a child. After Rick's disappearance and presumed death at the bridge, The Walking Dead jumped six years into the future. The season 9 episode "Who Are You Now?" revealed that their attempt at a Richonne baby was successful when it introduced Michonne and Rick's son: Rick "RJ" Grimes Jr.

When was Michonne pregnant on The Walking Dead?

The Walking Dead jumped six years into the future after Rick was helicoptered away by Jadis (Pollyanna McIntosh) and the CRM, mostly skipping over Michonne's pregnancy. However, the season 9 episode "Scars" showed a pregnant Michonne searching for Rick's body during a flash back to about eight months after the bridge. It was at this time that Michonne happened across her old college roommate, Jocelyn, who betrayed Michonne when she raided Alexandria's infirmary, stole their food stores, and abducted the community's children — including a young Judith.

What is the "X" scar on Michonne's back?

When Michonne and Daryl tracked down Jocelyn and the abducted Alexandrian children to an abandoned school, they learned that Jocelyn trained her child cult to hunt and slaughter people like animals: "Marked our kill, kill our mark." After Jocelyn's children branded Daryl and the pregnant Michonne with "X" marks, they were forced to cut through and kill the savage kids to save Judith and the other kidnapped children. As a result, a physically and mentally scarred Michonne isolated the Alexandria-Safe Zone for the next six years.

Who is "the Brave Man"?

Michonne kept in contact with Judith over long-range walkie talkie, but Michonne's journey to find Rick eventually took her out of range. Using the call signs "Daitō" (meaning "long sword") and "Shōtō" (meaning "short sword"), Michonne and Judith referred to Rick as "the Brave Man." RJ took to calling himself "Little Brave Man" in honor of his father.

New episodes of The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live premiere Sundays on AMC and AMC+. Stay tuned to ComicBook/TWD and follow on Facebook for more TWD Universe coverage.